Storage devices, such as nonvolatile storage devices, are capable of switching modes of operation depending on data storage needs of a host device. One such mode of operation is burst mode operation. In burst mode operation, the storage device enables the host to write data more rapidly to the storage device than when the storage device is not in burst mode. One example of when it may be desirable to switch a storage device to burst mode operation is when the host device is writing a high resolution image or video file to the storage device.
One possible trigger for burst mode operation of the storage device is a command from the host device. For example, when the a host application, such as a photo management application, knows that it is going to write a high resolution image or video file to the storage device, the application may instruct the host to issue a command to the storage device to instruct the storage device to switch to burst mode operation. Requiring an express command from the host device to switch the storage device to burst mode operation is undesirable as it requires that the application on the host device include the intelligence as to how and when to instruct the host to issue a command to switch the storage device to burst mode operation. Many applications, such as those resident on digital cameras, lack the intelligence to determine when a storage device should be in burst mode, not to mention how to trigger burst mode operation. Even if the host application includes such intelligence, latency associated with issuing the command and receiving confirmation of the command from the storage device may delay the writing of the data to the storage device.
Another possible method for triggering the switching of the storage device to burst mode operation is by calculating the rate of data written over the data bus between the host device and the storage device. Calculating the data transfer rate can require a complex hardware or software implementation, which can increase the cost of the storage device and may delay the switching to burst mode operation.
Even if the host device is capable of commanding the storage device to switch to burst mode operation for video or image files, it may not be desirable to enable burst mode operation for all video or image files. For example, if the host is going to write a single small image file to the storage device, switching to burst mode operation may not be desirable.
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for automatically and selectively enabling burst mode operation in a storage device.